Beware

[filkertom]

... the Ides of March, of course.

Who are your favorite Shakespearean actors? I am continually amazed by Peter Donaldson and Lucy Peacock every time I go to Stratford, and Christopher Plummer is practically a gimme anyway. I have to look for any video that might exist of Kevin Kline's turn as Falstaff a few years ago, and think Sir Ian McKellan would be amazing as Prospero in The Tempest.

Comments

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

Immediate agreement on Peacock and Plummer, and I'd add Brian Bedford to the Stratford list. (Although off days are possible - I was disappointed in both Peacock's Lady Macbeth and Bedford's Lear.) This summer, we'll be seeing Plummer as Prospero in The Tempest.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

I am always pleasantly surprised when I see Patrick Stewart doing Shakespeare. I know that he's RSC, but am too used to him doing Star Trek that it's easy to forget that he's a real actor. His uber-cerebral Claudius opposite David Tennant's also surprisingly good Hamlet was just one highlight of many in that [Edit] performance production. (Tennant was also startlingly convincing as a gawky teen. Gawky's not surprising; that he could play 18-19 realistically is, somewhat.)

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Not surprised at all that Stewart was that good; dummy me passed up a chance to see Stewart in The Tempest on Broadway some years ago... nor am I surprised to see Tennant doing as well, between the Doctor and Rose and that bit that he and Catherine Tate did for Comic Relief a couple years ago... (For that matter, I wouldn't be surprised if Tate or Piper could get up and do as well as their male counterparts...)

And then there's Branagh... whose Henry V put Sir Larry to shame... and the sparks flying between him and Emma Thompson in Much Ado.. priceless.

[gorgeousgary]

I had the good fortune to see Stewart in a "negative image" Othello -- that is, the entire cast were African American actors except Stewart. It was very good. And, just for some added Star Trek connections, Ron Canada played Iago.

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

I've never seen Stewart live, but I have seen another Trek captain: Avery Brooks in Oedipus at Colonna. IIRC, Brooks has also done Othello.

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

Sir Ian in his own version of "Richard III"

The movie version was so amazing, set in a WWII era England. If you haven't seen it, GO NOW! Find a copy.

One of my all time favorite Shakespearean performances was at Stratford several years ago. Scott Wentworth ( http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0921137/ ) performance as Macbeth, or as we subtitled it "The Macbeth's invite you to an evening of their journey to Big Shit Crazy". It was such a strong and creepy performance.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

Yes, Sir Ian's "Richard III" was brilliant throughout. (I would quibble, however, that it was pre-WWII, with fascism heavy in the atmosphere but not quite realized. That's one of the brilliant aspects, the foreshadowing of dark days ahead.)

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

Oh, and to be completely technical, the Ides of March are on the 16th of March... Willie got it wrong

[cainle-bean.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed Kenneth Branagh's performances.

Also enjoy:
Kevin Kline in Midsummer Nights Dream.
Elizabeth Taylor and Rickard Burton in "The Taming of the Shrew"
Charlton Heston in several roles

I was enjoyed Orson Wells production of "Othello", course this might be because it was the first time I saw that play.


And favorite adaptation of Shakespeare has to be "Kiss me Kate" =p

I have not been lucky enough to see any performances on stage... yet.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

If you liked Wells in Othello, check out the 1941 Scottish Play.. done as film noir as only Wells could do it. Totally different take on the play. Fabulous.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Kiss Me Kate, as revived in 1999, is available on DVD. I recommend it highly; the casting of the top four players (and really, across the board) is superb. It took a while for Brent Barrett to grow on me, but that's because I've always wanted Howard Keel's voice. (This performance is actually from 2003, but it's that revival.)

[ldyerzsie.livejournal.com]

Heh, we did "Kiss Me Kate" in High School. It was way cool.

[stormsdotter.livejournal.com]

Umm, I'm not sure if this counts, but I really liked John_Rhys-Davies' voice acting for Macbeth in Disney's Gargoyles. Like many kids growing up in the 90s, Gargoyles was my introduction to Shakespeare.

[ladywench.livejournal.com]

I saw an amazing performance (on DVD) of Sir Ian McKellan and Dame Judi Dench as Lord and Lady MacBeth.

And I have to admit to an obsession with Kenneth Brannagh's "Henry V" - Kenneth Brannagh, Emma Thompson, Derek Jacobi, Judi Dench, Brian Blessed, Iam Holm, Robbie Coltrain . . . I had no chance!!!

I was wonderfully surprised to find John Cleese as Petruchio in "Taming of the Shrew", and David Dixon (Ford Prefect from the original HHGG) as Ariel in "The Tempest" with Michael Hordern as Propsero.

I also developed a crush on an actor I saw live in Stratford on Avon back in 1988 who I've only seen in one DVD - Anton Lesser.

[inamac.livejournal.com]

I've seen Dame Judi as Gertrude (opposite Daniel Day Lewis' Hamlet - and if I had to choose an actor that I'd rather not play Shakespeare it's Day Lewis.

The Cleese 'Shrew' is the best thing about the 1980s BBC TV Bardathon. And I can recommend the RSC's 'Essential Shakespeare Live' CD which imortalises Paul Scofield's Lear, Anthony Sher's Gloucester (Richard III) and Alan Rickman's Jaques (As You Like It).

But really it's extremely difficult for a competant cast to ruin Shakespeare.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

...or as in Return to the Forbidden Planet: "Beware the ids that march!"

Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson immediately come to mind. I am impatiently awaiting availability in the U.S. of the Tennant/Stewart Hamlet.

My favorite movie adaptations: Zefferelli's Rome and Juliet; the 1968 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream with Diana Rigg as Helena; Branagh/Thompson in Much Ado About Nothing; Ian McKellan's Richard III.

[stone-bitch.livejournal.com]

Caught Ian Holm on PBS a few years ago performing " King Lear ". That was quite good as I recall. I don't have a favorite actor, but both Patrick Stewart and Sir McKellan I will watch any chance I get.

Drzarron's description of Scott Wentworth's Macbeth has pricked up my ears. I want to go find of copies of that and the McKellan's Richard.

Also both Mr.Libra and I liked the version of " Titus " that starred Anthony Hopkins. It reminded me of an old war dog in the last days of his reign. I know the Baz Luhrmann stlye of it really threw a lot of folks, but so much of it was well done. Great cinematography.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Geoffrey Palmer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Palmer_(actor)) as Peter Quince in the BBC production of "Midsummer's Night Dream" and Felicity Kendal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicity_Kendall) as Viola in the BBC production of "Twelfth Night."

[saganth.livejournal.com]

I did love seeing Midsummer Night's Dream at a local repertory theater when I was a kid, as the cast made it genuinely funny. I am not sure, however, that I have a favorite Shakespearian actor. I love Patrick Stewart, but I haven't seen him perform Shakespeare outside of Star Trek scenes.

Does liking the Shakespeare episode of Doctor Who count?? What about "George Lucas in Love?"

This date also holds special personal meaning for me - it was my late mother's birthday. She died of cancer back in January of 1998. She would have been 75 today had she lived.

[briansiano.livejournal.com]

Here's a hard one to find: Orson Welles's film _Chimes at Midnight_. He took the sections of _Henry IV_ and _The Merry Wives of Windsor_ about John Falstaff, added some material from Bolingbroke's _Chronicles__, and essentially cretaed a new Shakespeare play.

Which is miracle enough. The film was made on less than a shoestring. But Welles managed to create one of the great movie battle scenes of all time (one that Branagh clearly learend from), and his performance as Falstaff is terrific.

It's very difficult to acquire in the States, and I wish that Criterion'd give us a cleaned-up and well-documented edition.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Thanks to Amazon, Chimes at Midnight is not that hard to find. (Actually, there are many more options, ranging from reasonable to outrageous, available at Amazon by searching the title. But this one is both the first and the best price.)

It's also available via torrent, if it had been out of print and unavailable (those being my criteria for when it's ethical to download something I haven't bought).

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

Gotta go with Branagh and Stewart (although Larry O. was no slouch). Also soft spots for Richard Briers, Ian Holm, David Souchet, and Diana Rigg.

[lukeski.livejournal.com]

http://www.willieswenches.com

Shakespeare Smorgasbord

[cyranetta.livejournal.com]

Coincidentally, I just finished watching the DVD series (released this past summer, IIRC) of "Playing Shakespeare", a nine-hour series shown in the UK in 1984 featuring John Barton (co-founder of the RSC) doing master classes with an amazing roster of RSC company members: Patrick Stewart, David Suchet, Ben Kingsley, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench...highly, highly recommended.

As to favorite performances -- the BBC version of "Midsummer" shown on PBS years ago with Helen Mirren as Titania and the Kenneth Branagh "Much Ado", which is my go-to DVD for cheering me up when needed.

[j-e-richards.livejournal.com]

The first Shakespear I fell in love with was the Joseph Papp production in the early 70s of "Much Ado about Nothing" with Kathleen Widdos and Sam Waterston, set in Gibson Girl/Theodore Roosevelt America. It's out on DVD and splendid

[lindaneely.livejournal.com]

I saw Derek Jacobi's Richard III on stage in London, and it was the first time the play really worked for me. I'd always been able to see the evil side but this was the first performance where the seductive side was real. At the end the entire audience stood up and until he eventually came out and thanked them. He was just brilliant.

I'd like to see Alan Rickman play Iago.

[tcgtrf.livejournal.com]

Vincent Price as Richard III.

[hiddenriver.livejournal.com]

Not sure if this counts, but Anthony Heald (of "Boston Public" fame) made a stunning "William Shagspeare" in the new play, Equivocation. The guy is a top-notch actor - and the play is a major work. I firmly believe they'll be dissecting it in college literary courses 100 years from now. (Oh, and the rest of the original cast rocked as well.)

I saw the play in its original run at the Ashland Shakespeare festival. It moved to Seattle for a few weeks, so I saw it again there. Other companies are starting to produce it, so see it if you ever have the chance.

*Ahem* Sorry, I can't help raving about this play. :)

As for Shakespearean actors...the stage productions I've seen tend to be better overall than their film/TV equivalents - with one huge exception. I saw the RSC production of Hamlet starring David Tennant on both stage and screen. First, the tv version is just as good as the staged one and adds some very effective thematic elements which were difficult to convey on the stage. Second, it's not just Tennant - the entire cast was spectacular. I've lost track of how many different Hamlets I've seen over the years, but when I sat in that theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, I felt like I was seeing it for the first time. Wow - just, wow.

[druidsfire.livejournal.com]

Scott Wentworth also did a very good Claudius in Stratford, ON a couple of years back. Geraint Wyn Davies as Polonius was quite interesting, a bit of a comedic spin on the role that was a bit different. With Ger's comedic timing, it was priceless.

I'll also vote for the David Tennant/Patrick Stewart Hamlet. Seeing it live in London was truly one of the high points of my theatre experiences, and both gentlemen were very gracious and kind afterwards when they came out of the stage door and were signing autographs.

I think the most /magical/ theatre experience I've had was seeing A Midsummer Night's Dream in Oxford, in the New College grounds, under two ancient trees, open to the air. There was no stage, no curtain, just rows of chairs and a scaffold of lights. The play was run at dusk, so that as the lights were turned on, bugs flying around were illuminated and seemed to be like fairies or pixie dust wafting around. Definitely added to the atmosphere of the play.